George Takei playing as Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek series. Image Memory-Beta
George Takei may be a well-known supporter of the LGBT community, but he’d rather that Hikaru Sulu, the character that he originally played, in ‘Star Trek’ remain straight in ‘Star Trek Beyond.’
“I’m delighted that there’s a gay character. Unfortunately, it’s a twisting of Gene’s creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it’s really unfortunate,” Takei was quoted as saying by gizmodo.com.
John Cho, the actor now playing as Hikaru Sulu, had contacted Takei about the controversial move, and Takei tried to explain his misgivings about it. Takei’s point, it would seem, is that he did not want Sulu to be seen as being closeted all throughout the original series only to have him come out in the rebooted and alternate Star Trek universe movies.
It’s ironic then that this move was announced as a way to honor George Takei who, in fact, stated very clearly that he did not want it. Alfred Bayle